ART SHOWS & AVAILABLE WORKS
CURRENT SHOW, MAY 2023
ALOFT & AT REST
Selected works from Angell’s upcoming show, opening May 4th at the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, WA.
Looking back over more than three quarters of a century of responding artistically to Nature, I’m intrigued and pleased to discover an evolution in what I’ve set out to say. A large part of my time has been spent in seeking to understand, record and replicate the beauty of my subjects. I believe this was the ground work and foundation for what was to come. My later sculptural work, while still honoring the accuracy of the subject’s appearance, has put the emphasis on portraying, as is the case for this exhibit, what the bird is experiencing – suggesting a particular moment in the subject’s life.
Moreover, I discover a powerful motivation when observing or imagining a moment I have in common with the wild subject. Fashioning and finishing these works continues to strengthen my gratitude for Nature. Stronger bonds have been formed in the creation of the art. There’s a curious reciprocity between the artist and the subject. The subject becomes the teacher/instructor revealing secrets, posing questions and fashioning mysteries as I try to pay it tribute in the work. It’s an ongoing adventure I hope to sustain to the end of my days. I remind myself that while science can tell us what is probable, art can explore the possible.”
Join the artist at Foster/White on May 4th from 6-8pm for the First Thursday show opening.
Dimensions: 16 x 20 x 10.5 -
Material: Bronze, 1 of 1
SKYCUTTER
Nighthawks herald in a summer’s evening with their raspy calls heard overhead long before we see them. Aloft, they ride the warming air in dashing-zigzagging flights catching insects.
Dimensions: 11 x 6 x 7 inches
Materials: Bronze, 1 of 1
ON THE HUNT
Some owls are out in daylight to hunt not unlike hawks do. A pygmy owl, no bigger than a clenched fist will fly headlong through a willow thicket to pursue a small bird or mammal. The moment, augmented by the curved embrace of the bronze, is the bird’s determined flight that threads its way through or around any obstacle.
Dimensions: 8 x 8.5 x 7.5 inches -
Medium: Bronze, 1 of 1
CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS:
The sagacious nature of ravens becomes apparent to anyone who has spent time in their company. When walking through the woods about my studio I hear them croaking and cackling from the tree canopy over head. I wonder about their conversations and I have no doubt that they are capable of sharing unique raven insights developed through their thousands of years in close association with humankind. Are they up to something I wonder? Is there a conspiracy afoot?
Nest Site, Tree Swallow
Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.75 x 1.5 inches. 17 x 12.75 x 2.25 inches framed
Medium: Slate
NEST SITE
In the trunk of a deceased cottonwood tree a hollow has formed where a branch has broken off. On its lip, a tree swallow perches to inspect it as a possible nest site. Carving this moment in relief in stone allowed me to shape, texture and emphasize the swirling lines of the tree’s body. While the tree no longer thrives, over many years to come its presence will foster new life.
FEBRUARY 2023
WATER
Angell’s next show will be held at the Foster/White Gallery in February 2023. The title and theme of the show is WATER. The piece above, titled In Motion, captures the subject providing life to water birds - both a buoyant and safe point of activity and the provider of the food upon which they rely. Preening Display, below, reveals how the water fowl’s form is fashioned for life in the water: webbed feet, sleek body and fish catching bill.
In Motion.
Dimensions: 4.5 x 14 x 9.5 inches.
Medium: Chlorite
Preening Display, AP1/1.
Dimensions: 10.74 x 14 x 10 inches.
Medium: Bronze
MARCH 2021
OF TIME AND PLACE
Best known for his stone and bronze sculptures, Angell has also created prints, drawings, and clayboard works in tandem with his three dimensional pieces. Of Time and Place consists completely of lithographs made over the last 35 years which Angell has revisited, hand-coloring each with pastels. “As I revisited each piece, I found myself more involved with the stories and what I could see in color. Color captures the attitude. Color invited me to do a lot more than simply interpret the form, design, and characteristics [of the birds]. The color gave me the opportunity to see the stories surrounding each subject, and the moment they were in.”
See all artworks at the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, WA.
And/or, take a virtual tour, narrated by the artist, below:
DECEMBER 2020: CURRENT SHOW
CONVERSATIONS WITH NATURE
TONY ANGELL AND THOMAS QUINN
Angell is honored to take part in an upcoming exhibition, Tony Angell and Thomas Quinn: A Conversation with Nature. Fueled in part by their 26 year old friendship, Angell and Quinn share a life-long artistic fascination and reverence for Nature. The exhibition will be available to view online and in person by appointment.
My life has been immeasurably enriched by having an artistic association with Nature. There is the compelling beauty of the form, patterns and movement of the wild subjects that demand attention and generate awe. It is my intent to render some attention and permanence to moments in Nature that are becoming less and less frequent in a world dominated by human motives and indifference. I am compelled to give voice to a reverence I hold for these subjects that words alone cannot convey. – Tony Angell
Visit the Gerald Peters Gallery to see the exhibition in its whole.
MARCH 2020
DRAWINGS IN STONE
March 5 2020 – March 21 2020
DRAWINGS IN STONE, MARCH 5-21, 2020, FOSTER/WHITE GALLERY, SEATTLE
From March 5-21, Angell's exhibition entitled "Drawings in Stone" was be on display at the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, WA. This collection, carved in slate, represent Angell's most recent musings on the natural world.
Saturdays the 7th and 14th of March, at 2:00 PM, the artist will be speaking and answering questions at the gallery.
Take a virtual tour of selected pieces:
Slate has a long geologic history. Its origins include particles of clay and sand first washed from the earth's surface a half billion years ago. Transported by rivers and streams these materials settled out into layers over time to form sedimentary shale. Over another ten million years this shale was metamorphosed by heat and pressure into slate. When you cut into this hard surface with a chisel, elegant patterns are often revealed suggesting not only the ancient deposition that provided its durable structure, but how forms from nature might become part of its beauty. Subtle shapes appear and invite inclusion in the composition.
See selected works from Angell’s most recent showing below:
Material: Carved Slate. Dimensions: 8" wide X 11" high X 1" deep
WILDERNESS ICON
The goshawk is a secretive deep forest bird and rarely encountered. My moments with them have been fleeting and intense. When we met eye to eye their their defiant glare was a reminder of distance they sought from the enterprises of humankind. We sully and destroy their habitat, capture and train them for the glove, but we can never subdue their spirit.
EDGE OF THE FOREST
In early spring evenings, I occasionally discover an owl perched sedately along the outer edges of our forest stands. Their singular silhouettes are distinct against the tangle of limbs and branches. Their striking presence is a sign of a woodland's vitality . Their haunting calls invite our wonder and inquiry. Such are some of the memories that are part of this carving.
Material: Slate Carving. Dimensions: 8" wide X 11" high X 1" deep
Material: Slate carving. Dimensions: 8"wide X 11" high X 1" deep
DIVER
Off Lopez Island in the Salish Sea diving birds reside and at times I've witnessed their underwater activity when I myself was diving for abalone and rock fish. A murre, using its wings for propulsion is pursuing a small fish and creating a graceful arch of light in the turbulence of the chase. (Slate carving 8" X 11" 2019)
Material: Slate carving. Dimensions: 8" X 11"
STAND OFF:
Along our watershed sharp shinned hawks will sometimes be observed taking a perch within a canopy of tree cover. On one occasion I noticed that an Anna's hummingbird was also keeping a close watch on this neighborhood hunter. I'm certain the hawk was well aware of being scrutinized but feigned indifference.
OCTOBER 2019
Angell will be among the artists featured in the Woolaroc Retrospective Exhibit and Sale, open October 18 through December 29,2019 in Northeastern Oklahoma. The show includes both retrospective works and new works for sale by the artist.
NOVEMBER 2017
WINGS
Nov 2, 2017 — Nov 25, 2017
"Alone in the woods at night I've sometimes watched the small saw-whet owls thread through the dark corridor of branches above our creek. Soundlessly catching moths on the wing, they bring the otherwise mute forest alive with their spirited chases and metallic calls."
PAST SHOWINGS
Since the late 1960s, Angell has been showing work related to nature and his relationship to the natural world. He has affiliated with the Foster/White Gallery in Seattle since l972, and has had regular showings of both sculptures and drawings there.
Below are a sample of catalogues from past shows for your review.
Foster/White Gallery, SEATTLE, WA.
"... For twenty five years, Tony and his family lived in close company with Western screech owls during which time he developed a great respect and attachment to them and they became a major focus of his art and writing ..."
Foster/White Gallery, SEATTLE, WA.
"... Each subject brings a whispered secret to share of its particular place. The artist becomes the translator and conveyor of the message ..."
Foster/White Gallery. SEATTLE, WA.
"... I've spent over 40 years interpreting my subjects -- most were occasionally residents at my studio and certainly immediately accessible to me in the natural areas near my home... "
Conversation with Nature in Bronze and Stone, 2012
Foster/White Gallery, SEATTLE, WA.
"Tony Angell employs his art to creatively clarify, record and emotionally respond to the powerful presence of Nature in the Pacific Northwest... "
From Wild Skies, 2005
Gerald/Peters Gallery, SANTA FE, NM.
Group show with Lars Jonsson and Thomas Quinn.
